With a professional working relationship spanning three decades, Gary F Martinez FAIA and Thomas E Johnson FAIA founded Martinez+Johnson Architecture in 1994 to bring their design sensitivities to institutional and cultural projects in urban locations. The 25-architect firm has since established an expertise in three main architectural areas – the restoration and adaptive reuse of historic structures, institutional buildings in urban areas and community settings, and the design and planning of performing arts venues.

Known for a thoughtful design approach to public facilities, M+J develops an intimate understanding of the needs of users, patrons, and operators destined to inhabit the projects of the firm. M+J looks to the future in their design aesthetic even when the context may be firmly rooted in the past and executes creative solutions to facilities both new and historic, where flexibility, ease of operation, and high but versatile performance characteristics are requisite. Venues express aspirational values and goals of the communities within which they are located, and at the same time conform to issues of economic value at the highest levels of environmental sustainability.

Smart Financial Centre

Smart financial centre

sugar land, texas

The Smart Financial Centre epitomizes the 21st century mid-size venue for the lively arts. Situated south-west of Houston, Texas, the venue combines the programs of concert hall, civic center, and theatrical center in a single shape-adjusting venue.

Opportunity

As the first civic edifice in a new urban district of Sugar Land, the Centre sets the design paradigm for all buildings to come. Rooted in the landscape of southern Texas, the materials of the building reflect the contemporary life-style of Sugar Land while honoring the deep traditions and culture of the state.

Creation

The venue establishes a unique presence in the city with its elegance and sophistication. Within its 20,000 square foot, glass-enclosed lobby, designed for private events and fund-raisers, the full spectrum of activities in the center become a “show” visible to the surrounding public realm. Flanking masonry walls cradle a glazed facade designed to reveal the iconic bowl-shaped arena within. The expressive bowl stands at the center of the image created for the venue. Concessions and service facilities provide food and beverage for a range of events from private, catered affairs to full concert programs.

Designed to accommodate diverse demands, Smart Financial Centre can be shaped in a variety of forms. Manipulation of the audience chamber boundaries ensures that patrons never encounter the dreaded “half-empty” show of fixed room venues. In its largest configuration of 6,500 seats, the venue will be preeminent concert hall in the Houston area. Using deployable walls alongside balconies which extend down to the orchestra floor, the venue can be reduced to 4,600 seats for smaller shows, rising concert artists, and civic events. Finally, at 2,900 seats, the hall presents an elegant theatrical experience for the patrons of Broadway shows and extravagant holiday spectacles.